Mystele Kirkeeng is a self taught, acrylic/mixed media outsider/folk artist living in Crystal Lake, Illinois – by way of Texas. Her work focuses mainly on imaginary female subjects, many women of color, with wonder, hope, and encouragement as underlying themes.

Mystele embraced her destiny as an artist after a long struggle with the deep darks of depression. After a final melt-down that sucked all of her creative life out of her, she turned to her faith for guidance to spark her creativity. She got the answer she needed and never looked back!

Mystele is inspired by the raw expression & time-worn appeal of folk art, which she combines with cheerful, vintage inspired colors. The landscape and culture of Northwest Texas where she grew up riding horses, relishing in her mom’s childhood stories and her love of antiques and vintage goodies, her grandmothers’ humble homes and good cooking, everyday life and the people she loves – all infuse themselves in the soul of her work.

She is smitten with the creative process and the unfolding of a painting or project, and the space provided to learn and listen during the act of creating. In addition to art making, Mystele is an active teacher, offering live and archived video teaching series in which she shares her skills and creative perspective with her students

We are excited to bring Mystele’s colorful, inspirational work to you! Stay tuned for an opportunity to learn and work side by side with Mystele as she presents one of her amazing workshops at swell.